With those heartbreaking words, the parents of Lingzi Lu made their first public statement this week after a pair of bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday cut short the life of their 23-year-old daughter.

A public memorial service for Lu is being planned for 7 p.m. Monday in the George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom, according to a note posted on the BU website.

It will be the second goodbye planned for that day for two of the three victims who died in the blasts. Mourners of Krystle M. Campbell, 29, of Medford, will gather for a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Joseph Church on High Street in Medford.

Services for 8-year-old Martin Richard of Dorchester have not been finalized, a family spokesman said.

Lu’s family said it was her dream to come to America to study and she fell in love with the city and the people. She had adored her friends and professors at BU and had hopes of playing a role in international business. Lu was from the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.

“She has been studying very hard toward her goal,’’ the family wrote.

The family said that while Lu’s dream was not realized, they hope people will carry on her spirit to make the world a better place.

The family also thanked various entities, including the Chinese government, the US State Department, Boston Police Department, and Boston University, for reaching out “selflessly to us during the darkest hour of our lives.”

“We are also humbled by the compassion, caring, and love we have received from people all over the world,’’ the family wrote. “We wish to thank each of you for your prayers and for thinking of our daughter. Thank you for sharing your memories of her, your love for her, and your good wishes to our family.”

The letter caps a week of tears throughout Boston. On Thursday, a memorial for the victims blossomed with flowers along barriers that mark the eastern edge of the crime scene on Boylston Street, and three white crosses bear the names of the dead beneath their pictures.